VINTAGE

IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST 8^th, 2018

                           IMPORTANT CURRENT AFFAIRS OF AUGUST  8^th, 2018

1.  (8th August) is International Cat Day. 

2.  The 3rd India-Nepal Coordination meeting was held at New Delhi today. 

a.   A seven-member delegation from Nepal, headed by Inspector General of Nepal Armed Police Force Shailendra Khanal took part in the three-day meeting.

b.   During the meeting, several important matters like security scenario along the border, coordination meetings at field level, sharing of information about crimes and criminals, training of armed police personnel and mutual visits by officers of two countries were discussed. 

3.  The population of Australia hit a record 2.5 crore today, almost a decade earlier than projected. 

a.   The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has attributed 62% of the rise in population growth to net overseas migration, while 38% was due to natural increase.

b.   About Australia :

i)    Capital : Canberra

ii)  Currency : Australian dollar

iii) Official language : English

iv) Monarch : Elizabeth II

v)  Governor-General : Sir Peter Cosgrove

vi) Prime Minister : Malcolm Turnbull

vii)        Chief Justice : Susan Kiefel

  4.  The United Kingdom (UK) has rejected India's request to ban a pro-Khalistan eventin London to be held later this month. 

a.   The UK said that people in the country have the right to gather and demonstrate their views, provided it is done within the law. 

b.   Note : The US-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is holding a 'referendum' seeking Punjab's 'independence' on August 12.

5.  Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will be charged for money laundering.

a.   Razak was arrested last month and charged with abuse of power and criminal breach of trust. 

b.   He is accused of diverting $700 million from the state-run 1MDB wealth fund to his personal bank accounts.

  6.  In a bid to end the taxi issue in Goa, the state government has launched its own app-based taxi service titled 'GoaMiles'.

a.   The serivce was launched by the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. 

b.   The taxis will charge government approved rates.

7.  To help solve India's mobility issues, NITI Aayog has launched a global mobility hackathon 'Move Hack'. 

a.   The organization will recognize the top 10 winners, with a total prize of over ₹2 crore. 

8.  The Telangana government launched a first of its kind, Rs.5 lakh insurance programmefor farmers in the state titled RythuBandhu Life Insurance Bonds.

a.   The scheme is limited to farmers aged between 18 and 60 years.

b.   The insurance amount in case of death or accident will be given to a farmer’s family in 10 days itself.

9.  The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare today confirmed that there is decline in HIV cases overall in India whereas there is increase of HIV cases in 3 North Eastern states Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura

a.   It is due to high-risk behaviour of Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), and unsafe sexual practices.

10. The President of India, Ram NathKovind, inaugurated the ‘Festival of Democracy’ in Thiruvananthapuram to mark the conclusion of the Diamond jubilee (60th anniversary) celebrations of the Kerala legislative assembly.

11. Andhra Pradesh topped the States’ Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index (SEEPI) released by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and NITI Aayog.

a.   Top 5 in the Index :

i)    Andhra Pradesh

ii)  Kerala

iii) Punjab

iv) Rajasthan

v)  Maharasthra

  12.              Parliament has passed Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2017 that seeks to provide constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).  

a.   Now, the bill will be sent to President for his assent.

  13.              To end the 5 year Civil War, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and rebel opposition leader Riek Machar have signed a peace deal to share power in a transitional government. 

a.   South Sudan’s civil war erupted in December 2013 between supporters of Kiir and his then-deputy Machar. Tens of thousands have died in the war.

14. Union Government, NABARD and National Water Development Agency (NWDA) have signed revised Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for funding of central share of 99 prioritized irrigation projects under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) through Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF).

a.   This revised MoA will enable Ministry of Water Resources to release Central Assistance to prioritized projects under PMKSY as per requirements from time to time. 

  15.       Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), the marketers of the popular Amul brand of milk and dairy products, was honored with the ‘Marketer of the Year 2018’ award by the International Advertising Association of India (IAAI).

   16.              The world’s first-ever Thermal battery plant was inaugurated in Amravati, Andhra Pradesh. 

a.   This plant is owned by Bharat Energy Storage Technology Private Limited (BEST).

b.   This plant aims to create new energy storage form that is expected to have commercial applications, while also maintain low carbon footprint and less dependent on external factors like weather.

17. In order to curb fake news, WhatsApp today started rolling out the limit of forwarding messages, photos and videos to only 5 chats at one time in India.

a.   Globally, users can forward a message to 20 chats at once.

   18.              DMK chief M Karunanidhi (94) passed away.

a.   Karunanidhi, also fondly known as Kalaignar, was the 3rd Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and served in the position for 5 times.

  19.              The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that the volume of Transactions through Mobile Banking crossed the 300 million mark for the first time,.

a.   Transactions went up by around 14% to 306.42 million in June from 267.78 million in the previous month. 

b.   The value of transactions increased to ₹1.9 trillion in June, an 11% rise from the previous month.

20. To boost local production, the government today doubled the Import Duty on as many as 328 textile products to 20%.

a.   India's total textile imports jumped by 16% to a record $7 billion last fiscal, of which $3 billion were from China. 

b.   Note : The government increased the import duty on other products including fibre and apparels last month.

21. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled licenses of 368 Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in the six months ended June, more than double the number of such cancellations in the whole of 2017, for failing to meet regulatory norms.

  22.              The government today appointed journalist S Gurumurthy and patron of Sahakar Bharathi Satish Marathe as Part-time Directors on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)board. 

23. Indian Farm and construction equipment maker Escorts Group today appointed Nikhil Nanda as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the company. 

a.   He is going to replace his father Rajan Nanda who passed away earlier this week.

  24.              The Indian Women Chess Team clinched the Gold Medal in the Blitz event at the Asian Nations Cup 2018 held in Iran. 

a.   The team also won silver and bronze in the Rapid and Classical categories, respectively.